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I love a turkey Christmas Dinner, but for my blog I wanted to do something a bit different, so I’ve gone back to something even more traditional and added some modern/non-traditional twists.

Today’s recipe is Roast Partridge, served on a bed of Rosemary, Sage, and Parmesan Polenta, with a Pear wrapped in Pancetta on the side. Not included in the recipe (but in the photographs) is a bit of a lower-brow side that might seem out of place. Can’t think what on earth inspired me to include those 😉

In the month of December, I’ve wanted to try putting together an alternative Christmas Menu that calls upon traditional flavours, but with a modern twist. For dessert, I wanted something a bit lighter than the normal Christmas pudding. I’d been thinking along the lines of a plum Panna Cotta or something like that, until Jay (who needs to tweet more) declared “it’s gotta be something to do with Ferrero Rocher!”

Ferrero Rocher has undoubtedly become one of the UKs newest Christmas traditions in the last two or three decades (how long does it take for something to be considered a tradition?), and one that my household certainly embraced. Since I was a little boy, I always received these amazing little sweets at Christmas time. I can remember only one Christmas without them, which brought tears, great heartache, and much questioning over Santa’s existence. It never happened again after that, as let’s face it… nobody wants to see a man in his thirties reduced to tears on Christmas Day.

I can’t take any credit for creating this recipe… I found it on the interwebs, and felt compelled to try it as it was… this is a straight take on that recipe.

Now the original recipe calls this a mousse, but I don’t think my technique was great; I’ve never made a mousse and seem to have battered all the air out of it. It’s somewhat more dense, and has the consistency of a cheesecake without the cheese. That said, it’s still light, but don’t let that fool you! There’s so much chocolate and cream in here that it’s incredibly decadent. It’s so rich that you probably won’t need (or want) a large serving of it, but on the taste and luxury front, it’s a perfect way to round off your Christmas Dinner!

It’s the simple things that make Christmas, right? Well, you won’t get much simpler (or tastier) than these Christmas Parcels. They’re pretty easy to make, but harder to make pretty… I’ve worked hard to make these parcels look as if they were wrapped by a three year-old (ahem).

I wanted a starter for Christmas dinner that would be different from the norm (prawn cocktail, anyone?), light enough to leave room for the courses to follow, yet still satisfying… and above all, tasty!